Well we
were up early this morning as we had to go out for our weekly shopping today as
‘Charlie’ is arriving a day early, Thursday evening, which means that we now
have guests in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ from tomorrow until the start of June!
After a
quick breakfast we shot down to Sabinillas and called into the ‘English
Bookshop’ for a birthday card, meanwhile over Old Colwyn its Tim’s son, Ben’s
21st birthday it only seems like yesterday when we were feeding him
his bottle and rocking/dancing him to sleep! We rang this morning and caught
him before he hit the party scene over the next few days – “Happy Birthday” Ben
– all the very best for the future after also graduating last week!!
The
forecast for today was rain but at the moment its staying dry but overcast, we
had a few drops while we were out, then over the next few days and the weekend
its back to clear blue skies, sunshine and getting warmer, even today its still
warm.
We did our
main shop in ‘Mercadona’ then carried on along the cost road past Sotogrande to
‘Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro’to go to ‘Iceland’ We could now open a sub-branch of
‘Iceland’ here in sunny Manilva as we are stocked with loads of ‘English’
essentials/goodies, the fridge is full, the deep freeze is full, the cupboards
are full, the vegetable store is overflowing and most importantly the wine
cellar is well stocked, you can never have a ‘full’ cellar!!
As we
returned to the house to unload, the old ‘Red Fiesta’ (it thinks it’s a Ferrari !) just about made it back up the hill thought
the vine fields, at our door ‘Chispa’ was waiting to welcome us back and is now
playing around my feet as I’m typing the Blog.
After
unpacking I got tonight’s supper on the go “ Beef Bourguignon ” this weeks
classic from the past! My recipe using large cubes of local stewing steak,
tossed in seasoned flour and browned in Vegetable Oil; I sweat off the Shallots
& Garlic along with some Smoked Bacon Snippets and chopped Smoked Bacon with
a good dash of ‘Balsamic Vinegar’ before
adding the whole Baby Mushrooms & Carrot rounds, chopped Leeks & Celery
and chopped Parsley.
Its then
time to add a large glass of good Red Wine ( Thanks Brenda !) – The better the
wine the better the result! Finally its time to add a strong Beef & Vegetable
stock , adjust the seasoning, consistency and colour ( Cross & Blackwell
Gravy Browning ( thanks Josie!) I then leave the pan on the stove to slow cook
under the very able supervision of the Assistant Chef ( Brenda!) who skims as
necessary and tastes also. We are having Baby New Potatoes and whole Baby
Carrots. The aromas are wafting around the house and upstairs into the office!! See below - the 'Heart' shaped 'Crute' is thanks to Brenda!
I don’t
think we will be up on the roof terrace this afternoon but it won’t stop us
having our ‘Happy Hour’ cocktails, reading and listening to the radio before
supper. we will then as usual catch up with all the news from around the world
before settling down to watch a good film, if we can find one!
Thoughts
for the Day; See above.
..
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